THE RUMOR MILL

On this page you will find all the interesting rumors, gossip, and trivia on the Devils. All the behind the scenes dirt and long forgotten tour stories are here for your amazement and astonishment. Much of this shit was painstakingly gathered from Kathleen Wilson's "It's My Party" column from The Stranger.

The Leslie You Hardly KnewSo keyboardist Leslie Hardy was in quite a few bands before she hooked up with the Murder City Devil boys. She temporarily played bass in Hole in 1993 and before that she was in Kill Sybil (back then just called Sybil). Here’s some interesting photos of Leslie in other bands.

I bet you didn’t know that Leslie was once married.Mike JohnsonShe married Dinosaur Jr. bassist Mike Johnson in October 1994 at the Little Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas. He wore a blue and black iridescent shark skin suit and she wore a gray and blue '30s dress. In 1996 she even collaborated on Mike’s solo record “Year of Mondays”. He played guitar on two Juned records and produced their debut record in 1994. Sadly they were already divorced when she met the Devils working as a bartender at one of the bands favorite watering holes.

Being the only girl in the band was hard, especially when it came to showers. She admitted on the MCD documentary, Rock n. Roll Can’t Wait, that she would take showers only after certain members of the band took one. She didn’t say who, but I suspect she would take one after Coady, but probably not Gabe.

Unfortunately, years of playing bass and then keyboards with the Devils took its toll because Leslie had to leave the band in 2001 due to surgeries on both wrists. If that wasn’t enough loss for the city of Seattle, the day after she left town (to move home to Detroit) the house she shared with Andrea Zollo (singer of Pretty Girls Make Graves) burned to the ground. The real bummer is that Andrea had to go on tour with her band the very next day. So it looks like Leslie came to Seattle, rocked hard, drank harder, and left the city in ashes. Watch out Detroit!

Correction:Leslie actually shared an apartment with Andrea and most of their belongings were unharmed during the fire. The apartment didn't "burn to the ground" either.The Devils/ Modest Mouse Tour ControversyIn March 1999 the Murder City Devils cancelled some tour dates with Modest Mouse. This was strange given that they were all friends and Dann used to play with Modest Mouse. Well the tension occurred in February 1999 when Modest Mouse singer Isaac Brock was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman who was also friends with the Devils.

Their booking agent Chad Quierolo was quoted in The Stranger saying the following, "the Murder City Devils know the girl very well, and they've known Isaac for a long time. They think she's credible. They believe her and they don't ever want to play with Modest Mouse again."

After all these years the incident has never fully been resolved. It ended up being a he said/ she said kind of thing. I think it’s safe to say that the Devil’s ultimately ended their beef with Brock due to fact that Dann is playing with Modest Mouse once again. Word around the camp fire is that Seattle scenesters like to forgive and forget. You can read the full Stranger article here.

Correction:According to sources close to the band, the Devils cancelled one college show (not a whole tour) with Modest Mouse due to scheduling conflicts and way before the alleged rape incident. Chad Quierolo doesn't speak for the band.

Spencer Got Moody with Ian SvenoniusA now legendary fight happened when the Devils played The Black Cat Club in Washington DC on Oct. 10th 2001 (on their farewell tour). Apparently midway through the Devils set, Spencer Moody recounted a story of when the Make-up’s Ian Svenonius was denied entry to Seattle’s most popular hipster club, The Cha Cha Lounge. The story goes that when the Cha Cha first opened it had to turn away people all the time because the place was tiny. One night Dann Gallucci’s sister, Jenn, was working the door and had the honor of turning away none other than scene semi-legend, Ian Svenonius. After huffing and puffing, Ian busted out with the great “Do you know who I am?” line.

So basically Spencer was telling a DC crowd that their hometown hero was a big asshole. Well guess who got on the guest list and was present that night? Mr. Svenonius himself! After the show, Ian went back stage, confronted Spencer and bitch slapped him breaking his black rimmed glasses. Now here’s where the stories vary. One story has Nate Manny jumping in and slamming Ian’s face on the floor. Another story has Gabe kicking Ian’s ass. And yet another story has a few members of the band beating the shit outta’ Ian. Regardless of how many people beat up Ian, the Murder City Devils were banned from the Black Cat Club. Banned from a club on their goodbye tour? Now that’s rock n’ roll!Ian Svenonius

Correction:Apparently the Devils were not banned from the Black Cat and it was only Nate that protected Spencer after the "Slap Heard Around D.C."

Nate’s a Married MannyHow many of you knew that Nate Manny is married? Not this kid. The most surprising fact is that it’s to Dann Gallucci’s sister Jenn. It seems the two make the perfect art inclined couple. In 2003 Nate was regularly displaying his “Devocentric” art in Lipstick Traces, an art gallery owned by his wife. They apparently tied the knot sometime in 2000.Jenn Gallucci